Stalk the Cat: PohlCat Golf Course
It all begins with an idea.
By Tom Lang
Many golfers in Michigan enjoy taking on courses designed by former PGA Tour players such as Nicklaus, Palmer, Weiskopf and Crenshaw. We are fortunate to have a handful of their courses in our state.
The layouts are usually fun and interesting because those players got their design background from playing golf courses all across the globe, then blended the features of those courses with their own personal style of the type of holes they’d like to play.
We are equally blessed that mid-Michigan has a wonderful 18-hole course that falls into the same category – designed by a former PGA Tour winner, but with one special caveat: golfers can actually talk to him, pick his brain and maybe take a golf lesson because he works there every day.
We’re talking about Dan Pohl, a former PGA Tour champion (twice in 1986), Ryder Cup player and past Vardon Trophy winner (both in 1987) and led the Tour twice in Driving Distance – who was born and raised in Mt. Pleasant and now helps run the PohlCat Golf Course. He designed the course in the early 1990s, and not long after severe back injuries slowed down and eventually ended his playing days on Tour. All totaled he earned 70 top-10s on Tour.
There is something special about having a person with Pohl’s background and professional golf experiences working daily at a high-level, award-winning golf course balanced with reasonable rates, anchored in a Midwestern community. For one, the pro shop and grill are littered with genuine, personalized PGA Tour memorabilia that set a really fun mood for golfers before and after their special round.
Almost 40 years since he tied for first at Augusta National in The Masters in 1982, there’s still a passion in his eyes and enthusiasm in his voice when he serves the golfing guests who stop in for a round, or some excellent food in the Den grill room – or to enjoy a cold one from some three dozen beer options and local craft brews, on the very large veranda overlooking the 18th.
And that passion rubs off on the rest of the staff who want to give each golfer a great experience – golfers like 11-handicap Gayle Ruhl, a woman who is not a member but said she plays the course at least once a week.
“I think PohlCat is more challenging for my game,” Ruhl said in comparison to other area courses. “I like the yardages, and it’s more fair now that they changed some of the tee boxes. I think the staff is great and they’re very friendly – that’s another reason I come out here.”
Playing the Course:
The PohlCat has an intriguing opening four holes and even better closing four holes (aesthetically anyway) in my opinion – and frankly the other 10 in between are pretty darn good. In fact, if you asked the designer himself, the toughest part of the course is the middle stretch that is much more wide open than the bookend quartet of holes.
“Those last four holes are such a good combination of length (variations), open, little doglegs, things I look at,” Pohl said this spring. “But really the meat and
The Par 3 17th at Pohlcat
potatoes of this golf course are right in the middle of the course; 7-12 are good a 6-hole stretch with par 4s and 5s and the toughest par 3. So that area, you really have to play your golf ball. I look at it like you have to score early and score late; even though the beauty of it in those first four and last four, they are probably the more getable holes for scoring.”
No. 1 gets things started as a par 5 dogleg with no trees in play, but a brook to clear and water to avoid on the edges after the fairway turns left to the green. No. 2 (my favorite) is a par 4 with a drop off at the end of the fairway where golfers must clear the Chippewa River to the green framed by trees in the shallow valley below.
Depending on which tee boxes the grounds crew sets up your day, No. 4 can have a straight shot at the par 4 down the right fairway or when going down the left, golfers must turn a little right to access the green.
“I’ve played golf all over the world, and this golf course flows as well as any that I’ve played,” Pohl said. “You don’t get stagnant with one look, or stagnant with one shot selection (like all draws or cuts). In my estimation, when people come out, they could play it over and over and never get stale.”
Jump to Hole 15 and you’ll find an attractive dogleg left that would otherwise be a drivable par 4. Then comes 16, a mid-range par 5 with three massively-tall pine trees splitting the fairway that can cause fits on your way to a 3-tiered green.
“I think that’s the hardest ‘easy’ hole out here (at 455 yards from the white tees),” said GM Dean Paesens. “You can play it in a variety of ways; you could even hit 6-iton, 6-iron, 6-iron and get to the green staying out of trouble. You can hit driver over the wetlands and it’s getable in two – and it’s getable in six,” he added with a chuckle.
The par 3 No. 17 is the course’s signature hole with a carry over the elbow bend of the Chippewa River about 90 feet below, to a bowl-shaped green complex that’s been expanded recently when new tee boxes were also added. Don’t hurriedly play the par three 17th hole; relish it – because 18 (my second favorite) will come soon enough.
The PohlCat has long been a fan favorite stopping point in Mt. Pleasant for golfers heading Up North. Several times I have placed it on my top-10 places to play fall golf with its wide variety of tree colors.
After the Round:
The bar and grill area mentioned above is on the quality high-end of what most public courses offer. The hamburgers, chicken options and various wrap sandwiches are excellent. All can be enjoyed indoors with a bank of windows along the 100-foot-plus veranda or enjoyed outdoors where you can heckle your golf league buddies coming up 18 – or just relax with one of the nicer in-land views in Michigan that’s not on a Great Lake.
The clubhouse has a 300-seat banquet hall to compliment the permanent structure outdoors located near the expansive driving range/practice area that seats about half that number. Both provide the community great options for weddings, proms, graduations and charity outings.
If you’re not hitting the ball well before or after the round and want a lesson with a Ryder Cupper, that pretty rare opportunity is available in group and corporate outing settings.
“You are welcome to play out here, we are excited to have you here – and we want you to come back again,” Paesens said. “The last five years (since an ownership change) we’ve been able to connect better with the community, there’s more local traffic here, people are embracing the PohlCat and it’s becoming home to a lot of people now.”
Are you next?
Great Golf in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
It all begins with an idea.
Island Resort & Casino shines as a must-play Midwest golf destination
By Tom Lang
There are many great golf destinations across the Midwest, with an abundance of them in Michigan – including locations in our natural-resources-rich Upper Peninsula.
From southern Michigan to northern lower Michigan, golfers have a plethora of places to get their game on. While many of these destinations have received high accolades and plenty of attention, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula provides great, award–winning golf as well.
For this golfing adventure, you can road trip north on I-75 crossing the scenic and historic Mackinac Bridge and turning left on U.S. 2 for one of the prettiest 2.5-hour drives in America, along the U.P.’s southern shoreline on Lake Michigan, to Island Resort and Casino in Harris, MI. There are also very affordable, and one of my favorite, flights from Detroit Metro into Escanaba.
The Island Resort and Casino is one of the Midwest’s largest golf, casino and entertainment resort destinations, spanning more 408,000 square feet. The resort has over 300 guest rooms, including spacious suites and many dining options like the signature 5 Bridges Steak and Seafood House, 5 Bridges Pub, Firekeepers Restaurant, and T. McC’s Sports Bar making it an all-encompassing destination that you won’t want or need to leave. On the casino floor, guests can enjoy over 1,200 slots, a poker room, craps, blackjack, Spanish 21, three-card poker, let-it-ride, roulette and bingo.
New This Year and Coming Soon:
We’ll get to the golf course experiences in a minute… I think you’ll want to hear what’s new for this year: golfers can now add sportsbook entertainment to their golf vacation. TwinSpires, the official online wagering site for Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby, announced its official partnership with the resort in January.
Through TwinSpires, golfers can now add to their gaming experience by betting on their favorite sports including the PGA Tour, NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, MLS and many more at one of the convenient 14 kiosks located in and just outside of T. McC’s Sports Bar. TwinSpires Sportsbook offers all the betting options – straight bets, parlay bets, teaser bets, live bets, futures, and proposition bets.
The resort has been immensely popular amongst golf groups and buddy trips looking for a combination golf and gaming escape. The growing popularity of golf, gaming and resort getaways drove the need for a $30 million expansion that will be completed later this year. More than 100 new hotel rooms are coming, which are being connected to the south end of the current 11-story Palm Tower. Many rooms will have excellent elevated views of the award-winning Sweetgrass Golf Course and will allow for golfers to stay together in larger golf suites.
A high-end dining venue and convention space are also planned for the top floor, as well as a pool and water park.
Consider all of this, plus the current, luxurious Drift Spa, with its variety of high-end spa services and access to the resort’s saltwater pool, steam rooms and sauna, the destination will become a popular escape for buddies, couples and now families.
Golfing Splendor on Site:
Now for the great golf – which has been described as “unforgettable” and maybe sometimes “under-rated.” The resort’s original golf course is the exceptional Sweetgrass Golf Club, built in 2007 and home to the Island Resort Championship, one of the premier stops on the LPGA Symetra Tour, which will return again this summer June 11-13.
Designed by Michigan resident Paul Albanese and ranked among the top 20 public courses in Michigan (which is saying a lot since Michigan, overall, is one of the nation’s top states for golf), Sweetgrass features masterfully crafted rockwork with a prairie links style. The course boasts an island green on number 15 and a pair of spectacular waterfalls that greet golfers as they play up the twin par five 9th and 18th holes to an enormous, shared green.
Classic green complexes like a Biarritz and a Redan along with historic bridges rescued from other areas in the state are compelling design components and part of the story of the course – along with links to the Native American roots of the Hannahville Indian Community.
To complement Sweetgrass, a few years ago the resort added another championship course, Sage Run, which was also designed by Albanese. Opened in 2018, the course, which Albanese said was inspired by the “rough and rugged” appeal of Northern Ireland’s Royal County Down, is also beautiful, but a definite 180-degree site in comparison to Sweetgrass. Built on a natural ridge formed by glaciers, golfers not only have to find the fairways, but the correct side of the fairways to set up ideal scoring opportunities and avoid the thick rough.
The course showcases exceptional variety, including holes like the par 3 fifth, which plays significantly uphill – and the short par 4 reachable 16th which dares you to take on an uphill shot to a blind landing area. Sage Run is beautiful and challenging and built in a thrilling and breathtaking natural setting. Sage Run received a major honor being named to Golf Digest’s prestigious list of “Best New Courses, 2019.”
As previously mentioned, Island Resort and Casino is owned and operated by the proud people of the Hannahville Indian Community. It’s no surprise that utilizing and properly caring for the land is their top priority – making a good match for Albanese, who incorporated legends and tales about the Potawatomi Tribe into every hole.
“It’s my own philosophy and the Native American philosophy that we always try to make the design fit the land, and truly allowing it to reflect the principles of Native Americans’ respect for the land,” said Albanese, a Michigan transplant from Harvard and now Plymouth resident. “This also worked as inspiration for stories to share throughout the course. We put some wooden posts in the side of a hill (along the fairway) that are representative of (the remains of) a fort, from the 1650’s,” Albanese said about design elements at Sweetgrass. “And the green complex itself worked out very nicely to be a redan style green. And a redan is the French word for ‘fortress’.”
Turns out, great golf in the northern part of Michigan doesn’t stop in Traverse City, Petoskey or Gaylord. In the endlessly scenic Upper Peninsula, there is a bounty of outstanding golf and a bevy of captivating tourist attractions. Yet don’t take my word for it; try a stay and play for yourself. I’m confident you’ll keep going back.
For more information about Island Resort and Casino and its golf packages, visit www.islandresortgolf.com or call 877-475-4733.